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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29727210">Do you like or like like me?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Channel_Apple/pseuds/Channel_Apple'>Channel_Apple</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>? - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Parents, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Highschool AU, M/M, Misunderstandings, Modern Era, Sakura has a gf and It is mentioned, Sasunaru is only implied, Single Parents, Sort Of, Valentine's Day</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:41:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,850</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29727210</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Channel_Apple/pseuds/Channel_Apple</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A Valentine’s Day centric chapter from a fic I’m currently writing. </p><p>Disclaimer: this is entirely based off of my American high school experience. </p><p>[read the notes at the beginning to understand more]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gaara/Rock Lee, Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Do you like or like like me?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a chapter for a fic I’m currently writing! It’s a single-parents, modern AU where Kakashi and Guy meet, and Kakashi is automatically love struck. Naruto, his adopted son, notices, and since Lee and he aren’t exactly friends (some could even say Naruto doesn’t like Lee), he is opposed to it. Lee finds out, and his protectiveness over Guy makes him want to prevent this relationship from developing at all costs. It's like a reverse “The parent trap” well... almost but not at all, I guess you could say. This chapter happens pretty late into the story, but I wanted to post it since it was Valentine’s Day recently. I hope I wrote it well enough to where you guys could understand what is happening. I’ll be posting the fic when I have a few more chapters written down. </p><p>Please enjoy!</p><p>(*Also, Gaara is still a bit angry at the world in this but he’s working on it<br/>(￣▽￣;) )</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lee had been distracted and fidgety all day. It was starting to get on Naruto’s nerves. Earlier today, Naruto had to repeat his story three times! Now, Naruto is <em>actually</em> trying to do his math homework, for the first time in what might be forever, but Lee keeps bouncing his leg. Quite fast too...</p><p>
  <em>‘He’s making too much noise.’</em>
</p><p>Naruto tries his best to ignore it. However, The constant <em>pat, pat, pat</em> is overwhelmingly loud. The numbers on the paper start to get jumbled up in Naruto’s brain.</p><p><em>‘And just when he was starting to get it! Just my luck!’</em> The blond slams his pencil down on his desk, “Alright! That’s it!” Naruto shouts. He looks at Lee like he’s about to rip out his own hair, “was soccer practice not enough, bushy brows!?”</p><p>Lee turns to Naruto fast; he almost looks as if he were just startled awake, “I- huh?”</p><p>“Your leg!” Naruto gets it. He has never been one to sit still for long, but Lee? It isn’t like him to be so energetic directly after soccer practice, “you’re moving it too much! What’s your problem!?”</p><p>“I-“ Lee’s face turns into a bright red color, “nothing just-“ he sighs in defeat, coming to terms that he can’t save the situation. Naruto will definitely keep asking until Lee tells him what’s wrong. Lee lets his head hang sadly before saying quietly, “the truth is I have a dilemma.”</p><p>That seems to get the other boy’s attention, “oh? Uh...” he feels guilty now, “my bad... what’s wrong?”</p><p>Lee sighs once again and then lets himself fall back on Naruto’s bed, “It is just that... I like Gaara, right?”</p><p>“Pfft, yeah, what’s new?”</p><p>Lee’s face flushes again. He covers his face with his hands, “Yeah, well... I have been meaning to tell him how I feel for a while now, but I want to ease into it.”</p><p>“Like, do things, so it doesn’t come as a surprise?”</p><p>“I suppose,” Lee sighs, “I just have no idea how and recently, it seems that everyone is so fixated on relationships, but I do not know why-“</p><p>The door to Naruto’s room bursts open, cutting off Lee. It makes both teenagers jump, and Lee sits up immediately. His fight or flight instincts falter and settle when he realizes it’s Kakashi.</p><p>“I could hear you from the kitchen,” Kakashi gives Naruto a sharp look, “you better not be trying to fight.”</p><p>“What!?” Naruto’s eyes widen, “what if he started it, huh!? How do you know it’s my fault!?”</p><p>Kakashi shrugs, “I just had a feeling.”</p><p>Naruto rolls his eyes and turns to Lee, “Valentine's day is on Sunday, that’s why.”</p><p>Lee’s eyes widen, and his mouth drops, “of course! How did I not remember! The student council has been planning a dance for Saturday!”</p><p>“You’re not involved?” Naruto asks, surprised since Lee is always on top of things when it comes to his extracurricular activities.</p><p>Lee shakes his head, “It was optional, and I have been so busy with-“ He cuts himself off when he realizes that he can’t say that the reason he hasn’t been invested in his school activities is that he, Naruto, around three other teenagers, and an adult have been trying to keep an eye on Kakashi and Guy’s developing relationship. Lee looks at Kakashi, who is leaning against the door. After Naruto mentioned Valentine’s Day, the man seemed to have tensed up ever so slightly. Kakashi looks as if he were deep in thought. It almost looks as if he were having an internal conflict, and Lee can relate to that. “-uh... stuff,” Lee finishes lamely.</p><p>Naruto looks at Kakashi and then Lee. It takes him a second, but he understands, “Oh... yeah...”</p><p>Kakashi snaps out of whatever trance he seems to be in and looks at Lee, awkwardly, “so... uh... anyways, Lee... Valentine’s Day.”</p><p>Lee wants the ground beneath him to open up and swallow him whole. The topic of love is not one he wants to touch with Kakashi. He doesn’t want love advice from a porn novel editor, especially one trying to peruse his father. Lee feels himself cringe at that sentence.</p><p>“C’mon, spit it out, old man! There’s no need to beat around the bush!”</p><p>Lee feels a bit more relieved. He’s glad he isn’t alone with Kakashi right now, or else this would be way more awkward.</p><p>Kakashi shoots Naruto a glare before turning back to Lee; his face is now a light shade of red, “you see... uh... this might come off as a bit of a surprise but... um... I want to take Guy out... on... Valentine’s Day...”</p><p><em>‘Oh.’</em> Lee thinks, <em>‘Ok..’</em></p><p>
  <em>‘THIS IS A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE THAN IF HE WERE GIVING ME LOVE ADVICE!’</em>
</p><p>“A surprise for who exactly!?” Naruto laughs, “everyone can tell you’ve got it bad for Bushier brow—“</p><p>Kakashi moves with stealth and speed when moving over to cover Naruto’s mouth. He has his mask on, but even with half of his face covered, Lee can tell the shade of red has become darker, “uh... listen, the point is... can you please tell me if he’ll be free that day? Or... should I move it to a different day? And,” Kakashi looks exceptionally embarrassed. That embarrassment makes him pause before mumbling, “what flowers does he like?”</p><p>“Uh...” Lee knows he looks visibly uncomfortable. How else could he react to someone asking him how to get with his father!? “I... he is usually busy on  Sundays.”</p><p>That’s a lie. Guy usually spends Sundays with Lee, Tenten, and Neji doing absolutely nothing.</p><p>Kakashi lets go of Naruto fast and with a disgusted expression. He wipes his hand on Naruto’s shirt, and Lee can tell that Naruto licked his hand. The blond grins, “I say you should do it on Saturday, so no one is home to see you two being gross.”</p><p>Lee sighs and nods. Kakashi is not the type to verbally express how he feels, so for him to ask them something like that... the teenagers knew he was serious. If embarrassment hadn’t stopped Kakashi from asking them these things, then no force on this planet could stop this date apart from Guy himself. Kakashi had voiced what he wanted to do, and if he chickened out, it’d make him look worse than if he had just kept it to himself (or at least that’s what Kakashi says). With only those two questions, Kakashi had practically told them that this date was happening whether anyone wanted it to or not. Naruto’s thought process was that they might as well give him a day where Lee and Naruto wouldn’t have to be there to witness it. </p><p>“No one?” Kakashi mumbles, deep in thought. Naruto and Lee make a pained expression, thanking every god out there that they don’t have to see what is going through his head, “ok... wait, where will you two be?”</p><p>Naruto gets up and throws an arm around Lee, “Valentine’s day dance! I’m getting Lee and Gaara together!”</p><p>Lee’s face gets red, “I have no idea how you will be making that happen, Naruto.”</p><p>“Easy! I heard tomorrow is the last day to buy Valgrams!”</p><p>Valgrams. Lee had heard about this. The art club was trying to raise money for new supplies, so they set up a system where anyone could buy candy and a card for someone. People from the art club would deliver it on behalf of whoever bought it... it's perfect.</p><p>Lee’s face lights up, but then he visibly deflates, “I can not. I do not have any money right now, and I do not want to ask my father, what if Gaara says no to my advances?”</p><p>Kakashi moves to stand in front of Lee; he ruffles the straight, dark hair and gives the teenager a comforting smile, “don’t sweat it. You can always just write a letter.”</p><p>“A- a letter?”</p><p>“Sure,” Kakashi shrugs, “back when I was in school, that’s what a lot of people did.”</p><p>Naruto scoffs, “and what? Write “circle yes or no”? That’s lame. Lee, I’ll buy the valgram for you!”</p><p>“Mahh, what’s the difference between a valgram and a letter?”</p><p>“The person gets candy, you don’t have to hand it to them in person, which is good for Lee, and I think we can say something like “wanna go to the dance together? Let me know after school” or something, I don’t know, I’m still thinking about it, but it has some cool mystery to it!” Naruto explains before looking at Kakashi with a questioning look, “plus, do you really think me and Lee could write a letter like that?”</p><p>Kakashi sighs, “no, I <em>really</em> don’t.”</p><p>“I see... Naruto does have good points,” Lee mumbles to himself before looking up at Naruto brightly, “I will pay you back, Naruto, thank you so much!”</p><p>“Good luck with that,” Kakashi smiles at Lee, “but if you change your mind, I can help you with your letter. With my job, I have some experience with words when it comes to romance.”</p><p>“If by romance you mean porn, then yeah, sure!” Naruto teases.</p><p>“It’s not just por-“ Kakashi sighs, “I’m not arguing with you.”</p><p>After that, Naruto turns to Lee excitedly and talks about what he needs to do tomorrow. Lee is still staring at Kakashi, deep in thought as Naruto talks his ear off. Kakashi says a quiet good luck and chuckles before he decides to leave. He steps out, and the door is about to close when Lee finally makes up his mind.</p><p>“Kakashi!”</p><p>Naruto gets quiet, and the man in question opens the door a bit and peeps inside, “yeah?”</p><p>“My father-“ Lee pauses and bites his lip. Kakashi opens the door fully and looks at Lee with a bit of confusion. Lee sighs, “sunflowers. Sunflowers are his favorite, and he loves sweets... milk chocolate is his favorite chocolate.”</p><p>Kakashi’s eyes widen, surprised that Lee helped him. His eyes have a glint of giddy happiness, “I... thank you.”</p><p>Lee nods at him, and Kakashi leaves with one of the most sincere smiles the boy has only seen when he is with Guy.</p><p>Kakashi’s footsteps are incredibly light. His steps can’t be heard, so Naruto has learned how to count how long it takes Kakashi to reach the kitchen. Once enough time has passed, he turns to Lee, whisper-shouting, “you helped him!?”</p><p>“He seemed willing to help me... plus,” Lee smiles at Naruto, “he does not seem like he wants to give up, so I might as well make my father’s Valentine’s Day a good one.”</p><p>Naruto hums, “makes sense. But now!” He turns to Lee with a determined look on his face, “let’s find out what you should write to Gaara!”</p><p>When Lee leaves later that night, he leaves excited and nervous about what tomorrow has to offer. Naruto’s plan was a good one. All they needed to do now was execute it.</p><p>“He’s a good kid,” Kakashi comments once Lee is gone.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto waves him off, “you only say that because he’s helping you wow his dad!”</p><p>“No, I’m serious,” Kakashi raises his hands in defense, “he’s a good kid.”</p><p>“Mahhh, yeah, right!” That makes Kakashi hold back a chuckle. People can say what they want; he had definitely raised Naruto if that “mah” is anything to go by, “I’m just wondering if you’ll have the guts to ask him out.”</p><p>Kakashi narrows his eyes, “yeah? Well, what I’m wondering is what made you want to do homework?”</p><p>Naruto blushes, “can’t I just do homework!?”</p><p>Kakashi shakes his head, “Sasuke is having trouble with math again, huh?”</p><p>“I’m going to my room!”<br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>꧁꧂</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“NARUTO!”</p><p>Naruto almost jumps out of his bed. He had made the mistake of answering his phone without checking the caller ID. If he knew it was Lee, he would’ve braced himself better.</p><p>“WHAT!?” Naruto shouts back. He checks the time, and it’s 6:54. He groans, “dude, I usually get up around 7:10. I still had twenty minutes! This better be good!” There’s banging on the wall Naruto shares with Kakashi. He grimaces, knowing that Kakashi will be grumpy all day, “sorry!” </p><p>“I am sorry! I know the plan was to meet up before school so that I could buy the valgram, but Tenten just knocked on my door, and apparently, I am supposed to help them get everything ready for tomorrow night and-“ Lee chokes, he is clearly worried, “sorry. Basically, can you please buy the valgram for me? I am going to be busy all day, and my only break is during lunch.”</p><p>Naruto sighs, “okay, okay. Calm down, bushy brows.” Naruto gets up from bed and heads to the bathroom to wash his face and try to tame his hair, “I’ll get there a little earlier than usual, no biggie!”</p><p>Lee breathes out a sigh of relief, “you are truly an amazing friend!” Naruto can hear tears threatening to spill out, “thank you so much!”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, no problem,” Naruto shouts over the running water, “all we have to do is change around the wording so that it fits your schedule; it’s all good!”</p><p>“Hm...” Lee can be heard shuffling around, and the sound of Guy’s voice can be heard in the background, along with Tenten’s. Naruto finds it peaceful in a way he can’t describe. It’s not that he thinks life with Kakashi is bad, no, not at all, quite the opposite really, it’s just that he has never really had brothers or sisters. The closest person he has to that is Sakura, but she is barely over as much as she used to be now that she seems to have a girlfriend. Sai is kind of like his cousin, so maybe he should talk to him more, but he too looks too busy with things. In his case, he has been taking his art more seriously since he began his second to last year of high school.</p><p><em>‘I miss them,’</em> Naruto can’t help but think, <em>‘maybe I’ll hang out with them soon.’</em></p><p>That thought process is followed by him wondering if Sai also calls him his cousin. Yamato and Kakashi are so close; Naruto has always called Yamato his uncle but did Sai call Kakashi that? He doesn’t know. They were both adopted around the same age, so they’ve been around each other long enough-</p><p>“Naruto?”</p><p>Naruto comes out from under the water, “huh?”</p><p>“Sorry, you just went quiet, and it sounded like you were under the faucet for a while,” Lee explains sheepishly, “so! I was thinking, what if we wrote, “Gaara, I know it is not really your scene, but would you like to go to the dance with me? Meet me at the library during lunch and tell me what you think!” um... is that good?”</p><p>Naruto is mid-washing his teeth, so he quickly spits out the toothpaste to respond, “yeah! That’s good! Simple and to the point! Huh, it even kinda rhymes.”</p><p>Lee sounds a little embarrassed, “is that not a thing on Valentine’s Day?”</p><p>“Oh, it is,” Naruto finishes brushing his teeth and grabs the phone quickly, rushing to his room to get ready, “you’re gonna talk him deaf!”</p><p>“I think the saying is “you are going to block him dead,” Naruto.”</p><p>“You two are idiots! It’s “you’re gonna knock em dead!”” Tenten yells. She is close by, so Naruto knows Lee is about to leave.</p><p>Guy laughs. It’s kind of faint which means he is farther away, “is that Naruto? Tell Kakashi and him that I said hi!”</p><p>“Did you hear that?”</p><p>Naruto sighs, putting on a shirt, “yeah, I did... tell him I said hi.”</p><p>Lee does so, and Guy responds with a short speech about youth. It’s good background noise for Naruto, who is rushing around his room to get ready. By the time Guy is done, he has his backpack on, and Lee is leaving his house.</p><p>“I will see you later, Naruto! Once again, thank you!”</p><p>“Yeah! Hey, repeat what you said one more time for me!”</p><p>“Ok, it was, “I know it is not really your scene, but would you like to go to the dance with me? Meet me at the library during lunch and tell me what you think!””</p><p>“Ok, ok, see ya!”</p><p>
  <em>‘IKnowItIsNotReallyYourSceneButWouldYouLikeToGoToTheDanceWithMe?MeetMeAtTheLibraryDuringLunchAndTellMeWhatYouThink, IKnowItIsNotReallyYourSceneButWouldYouLikeToGoToTheDanceWithMe?MeetMeAtTheLibraryDuringLunchAndTellMeWhatYouThink, IKnowItIsNotReallyYourSceneButWouldYouLikeToGoToTheDanceWithMe?MeetMeAtTheLibraryDuringLunchAndTellMeWhatYouThink-‘</em>
</p><p>Naruto bumps into Kakashi as he rushes out of his room.</p><p>“You woke me up.”</p><p>“Yeah! Sorry!”</p><p>
  <em>‘IKnowItIsNotReallyYourSceneButWouldYouLikeToGoToTheDanceWithMe?MeetMeAtTheLibraryDuringLunchAndTellMeWhatYouThink...’</em>
</p><p>Naruto runs to put his shoes on, and Kakashi follows him, “you’re leaving early...”</p><p>“Yeah, something came up!” Naruto shouts as he struggles with the last shoe.</p><p>
  <em>‘IKnowItIsNotReallyYourSceneButWouldYouLikeToGoToTheDanceWithMe?MeetMeAtTheLibraryDuringLunchAndTellMeWhatYouThink, IKnowItIsNotReallyYourSceneButWouldYouLikeToGoToTheDanceWithMe?MeetMeAtTheLibraryDuringLunchAndTellMeWhatYouThink...’</em>
</p><p>Kakashi hums, “you better not be planning something bad-“</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you later!” Naruto gets up quickly and scrambles to the door, “Guy says hi, by the way!”</p><p>Kakashi’s eyes widen, and his face turns a light shade of pink as Naruto leaves.</p><p>Once Naruto is gone, Kakashi lets himself give in to the embarrassment. “Mahhh, it’s too early for this,” Kakashi mumbles. Guy being able to make him feel this giddy at 7 in the morning should be illegal. For God’s sake, the man just said hi!</p><p><em>‘Well, speaking of Guy,’</em> Kakashi thinks as he pulls out his phone, <em>‘I needs to make a call.”</em> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="Apple-converted-space">❤︎❤︎❤︎<br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p> </p><p>Naruto runs to school. He feels pretty proud of himself when he gets there at around 7:26. The last bell rings around 8:00, so it seems like he has more than enough time to buy the valgram.</p><p>And it seems like half of the school thought the same thing.</p><p>When Naruto gets to the art room, there’s already a pretty long line. There are fifteen people ahead of him, and as he stands there, the line gets longer. The reason it’s taking so long is that everyone was trying to make sure that their card was perfect.</p><p>“What are you doing here?”</p><p>Naruto jumps at Shikamaru’s voice. He had been standing in line for like twenty minutes now, and he was dozing off, “huh? Oh! I have to do Bushy Brows a favor.”</p><p>Shikamaru raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment. He stands in line with Naruto, “Let me guess, Gaara?”</p><p>“Who else?”</p><p>“True,” Shikamaru yawns, “Temari will be ecstatic. She really likes Lee.”</p><p>Naruto smirks, “Temari, huh? You two have been getting closer!”</p><p>The other boy’s face gets a little red, and he frowns, “not like that.”</p><p>“C’mon! She's pretty! You should buy one for her!”</p><p>“She’s not into that kind of stuff.”</p><p>“But if she were?”</p><p>Shikamaru groans and begins to walk away, “this is such a drag. I’m leaving.”</p><p>“You’re lucky I can’t leave this line!” Naruto shouts after him. The interaction had been short, but it was just what Naruto needed to wake up.</p><p>If he thought about it, every one of his friends had someone. Well... maybe not everyone, but it was enough to make Naruto feel a little left out. After all these years, Naruto still doesn’t know how to talk to Sasuke in that sort of way. Sasuke is rarely at school anyway, so it’s not like he gets a lot of chances.</p><p>
  <em>‘I miss Sasuke.’</em>
</p><p>Naruto doesn’t get to dwell on it for too long since, when he looks up, he notices that he is next in line. At the front, there is a table, and three people are working. Naruto scans his options and immediately wants to leave. He prays to every sort of god out there that he doesn’t have to go to the boy on the left.</p><p>The gods must be busy because the boy is the first one to have an opening.</p><p>Naruto stands still for a moment which causes the people in line to yell at him. The person behind Naruto even pushes him a bit. Usually, Naruto would’ve started a fight, but he was so taken aback, he doesn’t have it in him.</p><p>
  <em>‘For Bushy Brows, I guess.’</em>
</p><p>“Hello, cousin.”</p><p>Well... that answers Naruto’s question from earlier.</p><p>“Sai,” Naruto looks at his face, “I guess that fake smile is perfect for customer service.”</p><p>Sai shrugs, “so, you finally got enough balls to confess to Sasuke-“</p><p>“Why do everyone and their mother know about my love life!?”</p><p>“You’re quite obvious,” Sai replies.</p><p>“Well... you’re wrong, I’m not buying this for Sasuke-“</p><p>“No balls.”</p><p>Naruto always hated that that was Sai’s go-to insult, “I- just write this down, ok? I’ve been trying to memorize it for the past hour.”</p><p>Sai nods and picks up his pen, “ready when you are.”</p><p>“Okay! So, it’s “Gaara, I know it is not really your scene but would you like to go to the dance with me? Meet me at the library during lunch and tell me what you think”, got it?”</p><p>“Gaara?” Sai says curiously. His fake smile falls, and he looks more confused than anything.</p><p>“Yeah, I told you this isn’t about Sasuke,” Naruto says.</p><p>“Yeah, but-“</p><p>“Did you get it?”</p><p>Sai looks over what he wrote and reads it out loud to Naruto, “I think I did.”</p><p>Naruto grins, “thanks, cousin! I’m so relieved. I’ve been memorizing that thing all morning. How much is it!?”</p><p>“Three- I’m honestly surprised, Gaara...?”</p><p>“I know, I said the same thing at first,” Naruto replies as he pulls out his frog wallet, “but Gaara isn’t too bad, and love is love or whatever.”</p><p>Sai looks more confused, which is honestly a little funny. Sai doesn’t express a lot of emotion, so him being rendered speechless is hilarious to Naruto.</p><p>“Uh... what candy do you want to give him?”</p><p>Naruto hums, “I don’t know. He looks like he eats candy corn, so what’s the blandest candy you guys have?”</p><p>“I may be wrong, but are you insulting him?”</p><p>“Maybe? I dunno, just surprise me!”</p><p>Sai tapes a KitKat to the card he wrote and puts it in a bucket, he still seems very lost, and Naruto can’t understand why. Now that he has been closer to Lee, he has had the chance to talk to Gaara, and he isn’t that bad. Granted, he’s no Sasuke, but he does have his qualities, and he thinks that they might be able to be better friends in the future.</p><p>Well, maybe that explains it. It is only after Naruto became friends with Lee that he was able to see Gaara for his personality. The way Lee sees Gaara is not popular amongst his peers. Gaara being handsome? Now that’s a popular opinion. “Gaara is a person I would like to hold hands or be friends with” is a different story.</p><p>“Well, thanks, see ya later, cousin!”</p><p>Sai nods and waves goodbye. As Naruto walks away, all Sai can think is:</p><p>
  <em>‘Since when does Naruto like Gaara?’<br/>
</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>❤︎❤︎❤︎</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Kakashi will be the first to admit that this situation isn’t ideal.</p><p>But he really, really needs this man’s help, as much as it pains him.</p><p>The two men are sitting across from each other. There is no emotion on either of their faces. Kakashi seems to be studying the man in front of him, and the other is looking at Kakashi with a bored look on his face.</p><p>“So,” Genma breaks the silence, “what did you want exactly?”</p><p>Kakashi takes a sip of his tea, “well... I want to do something for Guy on Saturday.”</p><p>“Oh?” Genma quirks an eyebrow.</p><p>Kakashi and Genma both know that they got off on the wrong foot. Granted, it was more Genma’s fault than anything. If he weren’t a bigger man, he’d probably blame the kids since they were the ones who asked him to act like Guy and he were a couple.</p><p><em>‘The things I do for those kids,’</em> Was all Genma could think when he went home that night.</p><p>Now, as Kakashi sits in front of him awkwardly, all he can think is, <em>‘The things I do for Guy.’</em></p><p>All Kakashi had said to Genma on the phone was, “Can you come over for a bit? It’s about Guy.” Genma isn’t too keen on Kakashi; that much was obvious. It’s the reason he did what the kids asked of him. So for Kakashi to ask <em>him</em> about Guy out of all people was incredibly confusing. He only came over because it sounded serious.</p><p>“Yeah... and... I know you don’t like me, I don’t know if it’s because you think I’m not good enough for him or if you’re into Guy, but-“</p><p>“I’m not.”</p><p>Kakashi quirks an eyebrow, and Genma knows that he wants to ask why Genma would act as if he and Guy were dating if it wasn’t that.</p><p>Genma isn’t a snitch. If Kakashi and Guy found out that the kids were actively trying to stop them from becoming a couple, the teenagers would be in trouble. And maybe the two men would even be a bit heartbroken. It was his duty as the kids’ favorite adult-figure (apart from Guy) to keep this secret safe.</p><p>Also, he doesn’t want Guy to hate him.</p><p>Thankfully, Kakashi doesn’t ask the question he wants to ask; instead, he snorts, “so that means you don’t think I’m good enough for him.”</p><p>Genma shrugs, “I can’t say that I trust you all that much, Hatake.”</p><p>“Ouch,” Kakashi says sarcastically.</p><p>“I know the type of person you are,” Genma talks so casually, you wouldn’t be able to tell that the words he was saying were harsh, “I’ve heard the rumors, and I know that you and Guy are pretty much opposites, I don’t want Guy to fall in love with you and then end up hurt.”</p><p>Kakashi nods slowly. The silence returns for a moment before he speaks, “listen... I’m really into Guy. I understand your worries completely. I can’t promise you that I will never hurt him, but I can promise you that I won’t ever intentionally do that.”</p><p>Genma sighs and plays with the toothpick in his mouth, “Yeah, we can’t all be perfect.”</p><p>Kakashi hums, “so... we’re cool?”</p><p>“Yeah, why not,” The corners of Genma’s mouth quirk up slightly, “I’ll help you.”</p><p>The grey-haired man smiles, “thank you.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Genma’s smile drops, and he looks at Kakashi with a sharp look, “but just know, Hatake, if you hurt him, I’ll kill you.”</p><p>“And if that were the case, I’d let you.”</p><p>Genma laughs, “good, glad we’re on the same page.”</p><p>Kakashi nods, “so... you and Guy are close.”</p><p>“Yeah, <em>extremely</em>.”</p><p>That makes Kakashi’s eye twitch a bit, and he has to remind himself that Genma just confirmed that he didn’t feel any attraction towards Guy.</p><p>“I’m just messing with you, man,” Genma chuckles, “yeah, we are.”</p><p>“How close? Like... what I’m trying to ask is, do you have the keys to his apartment?”</p><p>Genma’s eyebrows raise a bit, “oh?”</p><p>“You see, I’ve been thinking about this for a while...”<br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>❤︎❤︎❤︎</p><p> </p><p>Lunch couldn’t have come sooner for Lee. All day, he rushed around helping set up things for the Valentine’s Day dance (the one he had forgotten entirely about up until last night), and his stamina was starting to falter. Although it's cheesy, the only thing keeping him going was the excitement bubbling in his chest. Also, he wanted the dance to be perfect. It had to be.</p><p>
  <em>‘This is going to be my first date with Gaara after all!’</em>
</p><p>That mere thought had made Lee smile, and it even managed to fuel his energy again for a few more hours.</p><p>“Lunch is next period, Lee~” Tenten practically sings. She is holding a box of paper hearts while Lee is on a step stool, trying to finish decorating this wall as quickly as possible so that it wouldn’t be on his mind during lunch. He wanted to give Gaara his undivided attention.</p><p>“It is!” Lee exclaims happily, “I hope he accepts!”</p><p>“I think he will,” Sakura comments, leaning against the wall; she has a playful smile dancing on her lips, “after all, you’re the only person he seems to actually like.”</p><p>That makes Lee blush, and a sheepish smile spreads across his face, “you think that?”</p><p>“Think? We know. He couldn’t be more obvious,” Neji passes Lee a towel, “here, let me do the rest, you dry off your face and fix your clothes.”</p><p>Lee practically jumps off, “you are such a good friend, Neji!”</p><p>The teenager in question seems a bit embarrassed as he climbs down the stool.</p><p>“Let’s just hope Naruto wrote the card right.”</p><p>“Why, Tenten!” Lee looks like he is about to lecture her, “do not underestimate Naruto. Sure, he can be a bit clueless, forgetful, and rude-“</p><p>“Why are you listing off his bad qualities!?”</p><p>“But there is one thing he is not,” Lee ignores Sakura and Tenten’s complaints and instead gives them his best “nice guy” pose, “and that is unreliable.”</p><p>Sakura shrugs, “well... he’s got a point.”</p><p>“Yeah, that he does,” Neji agrees before getting back to work.</p><p>Lee checks the time on his watch and immediately begins to wipe off the sheen of sweat on his forehead. The excitement started to become a mixture of that and nervousness, “does anyone have a mirror?”</p><p>Sakura nods and practically skips over to her backpack. She returns with a small mirror in her hand, “here you go, Lee. And don’t worry too much; you look fine.”</p><p>Lee’s eyes begin to tear up, “Th-thank you.”</p><p>Tenten laughs, “don’t cry before you actually see Gaara!”</p><p>“Right!” Lee exclaims. He brushes out his hair with his fingers and tries to make sure that it’s in place.</p><p>Three minutes until lunch.</p><p>Lee nervously fixes the collar of his shirt and tries to adjust his jacket. He takes a deep breath and nervously bounces on his toes.</p><p>“This is... really happening, right?”</p><p>Tenten and Sakura giggle while Neji lets out a huff of air, “Lee, you’ve got this. You and Gaara are pretty close, and I’m sure he feels strongly about you too.”</p><p>The girls nod in agreement, and Lee can feel his heartbeat in his ears.</p><p>When the bell rings, he practically runs out of the gym and heads to the lunchroom. Lee had to see Naruto first. He needed to thank him.</p><p>Lee dodges people easily, letting the adrenaline inside of him rush out through this run. He spots Naruto buying a drink from the vending machine near the lunchroom, and it makes Lee speed up so that he isn’t too late to meet with Gaara.</p><p>“Naruto!”</p><p>Naruto looks up in surprise, “bushy brows? Shouldn’t you be at-“</p><p>“Yes, but... I needed to come thank you personally before I go see him,” Lee explains.</p><p>The blond can only narrow his eyes, “you aren’t stalling, are you-“</p><p>“I am not stalling!”</p><p>“Psh! Yeah, right!” Naruto laughs, “Hey, don’t sweat it, Lee! You can do this; even if he says no, we’ll still have fun at the dance. You and the rest of the student council worked so hard on it!”</p><p>Lee can only nod, “yes... I agree... then I suppose that I should get going. I just wanted to come thank you.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, no problem!” Naruto throws him a thumbs up, “good luck!”</p><p>The thumbs up almost makes Lee tear up. It makes him wonder just how much time Naruto has been around his family at this point. Lee shakes off those thoughts and instead returns it before he turns around quickly.</p><p>Too quickly, cause he bumps into someone.</p><p>It isn’t strong enough to knock Lee down, but he does stumble. The person he bumped into seemed to be shorter but very strong since they stomp right past him.</p><p>“Gaara-?” He can hear Naruto say. The name makes Lee’s eyes widen.</p><p>“What is the meaning of this?”</p><p>Lee turns back to look at Naruto. Gaara is standing in front of the blond with a card in his hand. He practically shoves it into Naruto’s face.</p><p>“Wha-“</p><p>“Are you trying to embarrass me?”</p><p>That sentence hurts Lee a bit, but he is still perplexed about why Gaara is talking to Naruto about this.</p><p>“I-“</p><p>“We’ve barely become friends, and you used to hate me up until a few weeks ago, so what exactly are you playing at?”</p><p>“Wait, let me see that!” Naruto snatches the card out of Gaara’s hand and reads it over once... then twice... then three more times.</p><p>Lee, who had been frozen in place, can finally move again and goes into auto-pilot. He stands next to Naruto and reads the card.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Gaara,</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I know it is not really your scene but would you like to go to the dance with me? Meet me at the library during lunch and tell me what you think.</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>From: Naruto.</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Lee’s mouth falls open, “WHAATTTT!?”</p><p>“Stupid Sai! He wrote my name without asking if it were from someone else,” Naruto curses before turning back to Gaara, “it’s a misunderstanding, believe it! I bought this on behalf of someone else!”</p><p>“Someone else?”</p><p>“Yes! Someone else!”</p><p>Gaara crosses his arm and frowns, “from who then?”</p><p>Naruto and Lee share a look from the corner of their eyes and then look back at Gaara.</p><p>“Uh... I’m not at liberty to say, so... ask Lee!” Naruto says before pushing Lee forward.</p><p>Lee visibly gulps, “I... uh... you see, Gaara...”</p><p>Gaara looks more confused than annoyed when he sees Lee. It makes Lee realize right then and there that...</p><p>“I... I have forgotten.”</p><p>That he can’t do it.</p><p>Gaara looks at Lee with a questionable expression, “I see.”</p><p>Lee laughs awkwardly, and he can feel Naruto’s gaze practically penetrate the back of his head, “haha, yeah... s-sorry.”</p><p>Gaara gives Naruto a short nod, “all right then,” he turns to Lee, “sorry for the misunderstanding.”</p><p>And that’s it. With that, he walks away. The two boys stand in silence for a few seconds before Naruto grabs him by the shoulders.</p><p>“What was that all about bushy brows!?”</p><p>Lee practically deflates, “he was embarrassed by the note; I could not bring myself to tell him.”</p><p>“Yeah, but-“</p><p>“Let us just leave it,” Lee mumbles, “it was a bad idea anyway.”</p><p>The teen practically trudges away from Naruto, and he doesn’t have it in him to try to follow him or say something.</p><p>He feels guilty. </p><p><em>‘I have to make it up to him,’</em> Naruto thinks as Lee’s head hangs sadly. From his angle, Lee looks a bit like a turtle that is hiding from the world. Though, instead of a turtle shell, Lee has his jacket.</p><p>
  <em>‘I hope Guy doesn’t realize that Lee is upset because if he does, he’ll get worried and then...‘</em>
</p><p>Naruto shivers,<em> ‘Kakashi will kill me.’</em></p><p> </p><p>•</p><p>•</p><p>•</p><p> </p><p>Kakashi sneezes hard, and it makes Genma jump slightly.</p><p>“You better not be coming down with a cold, not after we’ve been planning so hard.”</p><p>“Even if I did, it wouldn’t matter,” Kakashi sniffles, “cold or not, this date is happening.”</p><p>‘<em>Stubborn,’</em> Genma thinks as Kakashi wipes his nose and goes back to pointing at the list of things he needs to get for the date on Saturday, <em>‘I suppose they’re not so different after all.’</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My tumblr is: Popcorn.fucker :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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